In the recent years several broadband wireless technologies have been developed to meet the growing number of broadband subscribers and to provide more and better applications and services. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) has developed Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA 2000), 1x Evolution Data Optimized (1x EVDO), and Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) systems. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has developed Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), and Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers has developed Mobile Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) systems. As more people become users of mobile communication systems and more services are provided over these systems, there is an increasing need for a mobile communication system with large capacity, high throughput, lower latency and better reliability.
A broadband wireless network based on millimeter waves, i.e., radio waves with wavelengths in a range of 1 millimeter (mm) to 10 mm, which range corresponds to a radio frequency of 30 Gigahertz (GHz) to 300 GHz, is a candidate for a next generation mobile communication technology, as a vast amount of spectrum is available in the mm wave band. The broadband wireless network based on the millimeter wave includes multiple Base Stations (BSs) that cover a geographic area. In order to ensure good coverage, BSs must be deployed with higher density than related-art macro-cellular BSs. In general, roughly the same site-to-site distance as micro-cell or pico-cell deployment in an urban environment is recommended. The transmission and/or reception in a millimeter wave system are based on narrow beams which suppress interference from neighboring base stations and extend the range of a millimeter wave link. This allows significant overlap of coverage among neighboring base stations. Unlike cellular systems that partition the geographic area into cells, with each cell served by one or a few base stations, the base stations in a millimeter wave system are disposed in a grid with a large number of nodes with which a Mobile Station (MS) can communicate. The base station grid addresses a problem of poor link quality at the cell edge that is inherent in cellular systems, and enables high-quality Equal Grade Of Service (EGOS) regardless of the location of a mobile station.
In order to utilize the fact that MS can detect signal from multiple BSs in broadband wireless network, a virtual cell (or a Cloud Cell) is formed around the MS. A Cloud Cell is a virtual cell including multiple BSs that serve an MS. The BSs in the Cloud Cell communicating with MSs need to perform downlink (DL) transmit (Tx) Beam forming, while the MSs may need to perform DL receive (Rx) Beam forming to receive DL control and data. An MS communicating with a BS in the Cloud Cell may need to perform uplink (UL) Tx Beam forming while the BS will perform UL Rx Beam forming to transmit UL data. One BS in the Cloud Cell is designated as a master for coordination among other BSs in the Cloud Cell. The BSs of the Cloud Cell for an MS are continually changing because of MS mobility. A Cloud Cell is specific to an MS. A BS can be part of multiple Cloud Cells and it may be the master for some Cloud Cells and a slave for other Cloud Cells.
In the traditional communication system wherein an MS communicates with one BS, the downlink BS receives Internet Protocol (IP) packets from a data GateWay (GW) in DL, performs all processing, and transmits physical bursts carrying the processed IP packets to the MS. In the uplink, the BS receives the physical bursts from the MS, performs all processing, and transmits the IP packets to data GW.
In the broadband wireless network, wherein multiple BSs are grouped together to serve an MS and the MS communicates with multiple BSs in a Cloud Cell, all the BSs in the Cloud Cell receive IP packets from a data GW in DL. In the UL, the data GW can receive IP packets from one or multiple BSs in the Cloud Cell. In such a system, a method is used to enable grouping of bearers (or data flows) between the member BSs in the Cloud Cell and the data GW, wherein the grouped bearers across multiple BSs carry data for a service flow of an MS.